Athlete spotlight: Alex Cleveland, Zionsville swimming

Zionsville's Alex Cleveland won the state title in the 50-yard freestyle.

After finishing 13th in the 50-yard freestyle in last year's state swimming meet, Zionsville High School's Alex Cleveland made up her mind.

"Leaving the meet, she said 'I'm going to win that 50 free next year,' " Zionsville coach Scott Kubly said. "So she had that set in the back of her mind."

Cleveland, a junior, did just that, winning the 50 free in 22.99 seconds in the Feb. 9 state meet at the Natatorium at IUPUI. She had turned in a school record 22.95 showing in the preliminaries the night before, flirting with the state record of 22.90.

"She worked really hard to get that (50 free) title so I'm glad for her," said Kubly, whose team finished third to Carmel.

Cleveland finished fourth in the backstroke.

Zionsville sophomore Taithe Kitchel placed fifth in the 200 individual medley and sixth in the butterfly. She was a sectional champions in both events.

"Taithe set a new school record in IM in the prelims Friday night (with 2:02.04) and then came back with 2:03.46," Kubly said. "It's a hard event to go back to back and have two good times in. She was seeded eighth in butterfly and moved up two spots so she had a good meet."

She set the school record in the butterfly last year in 56.25 (56.46 was her finals time)

Cleveland and Kitchel also were on the 200 medley-relay squad that placed third. Cleveland was on the third-place 200-free relay and Kitchel was on the fifth-place 400-free relay.

"They both did a great job in contributing to those finishes as well," Kubly said.

Kitchel competes for the Carmel Swim Club in the offseason.

"So she definitely doing all the right things to keep improving," Kitchel said. "She keeps getting better and better."

- Mark Ambrogi

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Athlete spotlight: Alex Cleveland, Zionsville swimming

After finishing 13th in the 50-yard freestyle in last year's state swimming meet, Zionsville High School's Alex Cleveland made up her mind.